


Nightmares

by RensSaxophone



Series: Ranmaru's Birthday!! 2020 [1]
Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26541121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RensSaxophone/pseuds/RensSaxophone
Summary: Ranmaru wakes up from a nightmare, and Ren and Tokiya comfort him.
Relationships: Ichinose Tokiya/Jinguuji Ren/Kurosaki Ranmaru
Series: Ranmaru's Birthday!! 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929976
Kudos: 9





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Nine days til Ranmaru's birthday. This is the Day Nine fic.

“Ran, baby, hey.” Ren’s voice is gentle, his head resting on Ranmaru’s shoulder. Ranmaru wakes up, a bit startled. There are two pairs of hands on him, and at first, he’s disoriented, because he’s sat upright. Ren is sat up against the headboard, and he’s managed to get Ranmaru on his lap. Ranmaru can feel Tokiya behind him, pressing the side of his face against Ranmaru’s back, between his shoulder blades. 

“You were having a nightmare.” Ren sighs, petting through Ranmaru’s hair, but the sigh sounds relieved, seeing Ranmaru’s eyes open. “We’ve been trying to wake you up for a few minutes.” 

Ranmaru hums, still mostly asleep. He can feel his heart beating too fast, and he’s trying to get his mind working again. “‘M I on yer lap, Ren?” 

“You are.” Ren clearly has no plan on letting Ranmaru up, either. Ranmaru feels Tokiya’s head lift, and then he sets his head on Ranmaru’s shoulder- the one that Ren wasn’t resting his head on. Ranmaru’s legs were still tangled in the blanket, but he was definitely surrounded by Ren and Tokiya, too. 

Ranmaru opens his mouth. He hasn’t figured out exactly what he was going to say, only that it was along the lines of ‘I’m fine’. The way sits up conveys that- but then Ren pulls Ranmaru back into his chest. 

“Please let us worry about you.” Tokiya says softly. 

“It wasn’t a bad nightmare.” Ranmaru assure. “Hardly even remember it.” He isn’t physically moving to get away, but Ren’s grip still tightens.

“It’s not just about the nightmare. It’s been a long time since you’ve been in the middle baby.” Ren nuzzles into Ranmaru’s neck. “We want to give you attention, too, sometimes you know.”

“Can we take care of you?” Tokiya’s voice is almost pleading. All three of them know that it’s going to work on Ranmaru. “At least for tonight?”

“...If yer both this bothered by it.” Ranmaru finally gives. It’s hard not to, when he has Ren holding him and Tokiya curled around him. Both Ren and Tokiya seem happy that he’s letting them. 

“You can ask for more from us.” Ren is reminding Ranmaru of a cat, with his nose against Ranmaru’s neck and his hair tickling under Ranmaru’s chin. “Sometimes I wish you would. It’s nice- being in your arms. But it’s nice holding you, too.”

Tokiya hums, and it gets Ren’s attention- perhaps because Tokiya _is_ close, but he’s still just a bit too far for Ren’s liking. And Ranmaru thinks he’d prefer to be able to see Tokiya, too. Ren lifts his head, and he’s already putting his plan in action by the time Ranmaru realizes he has one. It’s easy enough to get Ranmaru to shift, and Ranmaru can actually see Tokiya’s expression shift- starting confused, though by the time Ren is pulling Tokiya onto his lap, too, Tokiya is rolling his eyes. But when both Ranmaru and Tokiya are mostly settled on Ren’s lap, Ren’s arms wrap around Ranmaru and Tokiya’s waist. 

“Jesus, Ren, how’re you even breathin’?” Ranmaru is exasperated, but there’s also a heavy level of amusement. 

“It’s like a weighted blanket.” Ren has a large grin on his face. “Warm and comforting.”

Ranmaru snorts, but Tokiya takes his chance to wrap his arms around Ranmaru, taking the dominant position in the cuddle. It’s a little strange, Ranmaru thinks, but he can’t find it in himself to mind. If anything, it’s pretty nice, having them both holding him. It wasn’t something that happened very often.

Tokiya’s chin rests on Ranmaru’s shoulder, turned enough to his side to properly hold Ranmaru. Ren’s arm is on Ranmaru’s waist, just a bit below Tokiya’s arm across his chest, resting just on his ribcage. 

“You did have a nightmare, though.” Ren squeezes both Ranmaru and Tokiya closer to himself. “Did you want to talk about it?”

“I can barely remember it.” Ranmaru would have shrugged, but he probably would have hit both Ren and Tokiya if he tried. “I think I woke up a ‘lil freaked-” He catches a look Tokiya gives him from the corner of his eye, and he relents with a sigh. “I really _don’t_ remember it. Just feel a little… off. But that’s really it. I’ll get over it.”

Tokiya shifts, his eyes flickering to Ren’s face. When he’s sure that he isn’t crushing him, he moves his leg on top of Ranmaru’s, over the blanket. Tokiya’s hand slides up, to the center of Ranmaru’s chest- and Ranmaru’s heart _is_ still beating too fast. Tokiya pulls his head back enough to mouth kisses along Ranmaru’s shoulder, his thumb running soothingly over Ranmaru’s chest. Ranmaru’s automatic, nearly inaudible, contented sigh gets a smile from Ren. 

“We’ll keep you safe, Ran.” Ren’s voice is fond, tilting his head to press a kiss to the side of Ranmaru’s neck, opposite of the shoulder Tokiya has his lips pressed to. 

Usually, that’s Ranmaru’s line to them- but as Ranmaru closes his eyes, he admits to himself that it’s not bad to hear. 

“I hate to end this moment.” Tokiya sighs, finally pulling away. “But maybe we should get you laying down.”

“Don’t think I’m ready to sleep yet.” Ranmaru’s voice is a bit grim. “‘M not even really tired.”

“We’ll stay awake with you until you can sleep.” Ren assures. “But Toki’s right. It wouldn’t hurt to at least lie down.” 

It takes a minute to get themselves situated. Tokiya gets off of Ren’s lap first, sliding to the other side of the bed. Ren had been the one sleeping in the middle originally that night, but had moved over to the side when he had lifted Ranmaru onto his lap. One of Ren’s arms wrap firmly around Ranmaru’s waist, the other moving to cradle Ranmaru’s head. 

“I can just slide over, Ren. Y’don’t need ‘t pull some fancy maneuver.” 

Ranmaru knew Ren was perfectly capable- because he had seen Ren roll over with Tokiya before. But Ranmaru was the largest of the three of them. It wasn’t that he doubted Ren could do it, he just didn’t think it was worth the effort. 

“I’m already in position.” Ren teases. “Just stay still.” 

Ranmaru clicks his tongue, but it’s a soft sound and certainly doesn’t dissuade Ren. Ranmaru expects the roll to be extremely disorienting, but with his eyes closed, it actually isn’t that bad. As soon as they’re turned, Ren moves his arm, manipulating himself so that Ranmaru’s head is resting on Ren’s bicep. Tokiya is fast to fill in the space in front of Ranmaru, tilting his head up to press a short, soft kiss to Ranmaru’s lips. 

Ren’s leg hooks around Ranmaru’s hip, and Tokiya’s moves to join the tangle. 

Ranmaru’s eyes haven’t opened, but he really didn’t feel very tired. Tokiya’s hand moves to rest on his cheek, and he feels Tokiya’s nose bump his own. When he opens his eyes, Tokiya’s face is right in front of his. 

“Is there anything I can get you?” Tokiya mumbles. Ranmaru just reaches out to set his hand on Tokiya’s waist.

“Just stay in bed.” Ranmaru’s eyes close. “That’s more ‘n enough, babe.” A moment of silence passes, and Ranmaru’s voice is almost just a bit uneasy. “‘M I really that distant? Yer both makin’ this out ‘t be a real big deal.”

“It’s not that you’re distant.” Ren’s thumb brushes over Ranmaru’s side. “It’s that you’re very good at taking care of us, but not as good at letting us take care of you. So every once in a while I think we need to force our care on you. Just to remind you that you’re allowed to accept it.”

Ranmaru gets quiet for a very long moment, and then he sighs. His sentiment is still genuine. “...’S nice. Bein’ in the middle. Dunno if I could do it real often but maybe I’ll start doin’ it more.”

“We could set up a schedule.” Tokiya offers. It’s clear that both he and Ren are happy, hearing Ranmaru’s admittance. “Even if it’s once a month. I’d be very happy to be able to dote on you more, Ran.” Tokiya tilts his head back up, brushing his nose against Ranmaru’s. Ranmaru opens his eyes in time to see Tokiya’s smile- softer and happier than it usually is. “I love you.”

“I love you.” Ren’s voice is almost a purr, pressing a kiss to the back of Ranmaru’s neck. 

Ranmaru lets out a quiet chuckle, gently squeezing Tokiya’s waist, before dropping his hand to squeeze Ren’s thigh. “Love you both, too.”

Before he can make the move to kiss Tokiya’s forehead, Tokiya moves. He sits himself up enough to lean up, pressing his lips firmly to the center of Ranmaru’s forehead.

Ranmaru gives a good-natured sigh, and he closes his eyes once more. 

“Is there anything we can do to help you relax, baby?” Ren mumbles. “You can ask anything of us.”

“A reward for all of _your_ hard work.” Tokiya agrees. 

Ranmaru’s eyebrows furrow, and it gets Tokiya’s attention. His hand raises to Ranmaru’s cheek, his thumb gently tracing over his lip. “Hmm? What is it?”

“Since yer stealin’ all my moves anyways-” Ranmaru’s voice is no better than a mumble. He really isn’t used to requesting things like this- but when they’re _this_ insistent… “Will you hum?”

Whether it was the request itself, or the fact that he made one, is lost on Ranmaru, but Tokiya’s hand moves to cup Ranmaru’s face a bit more firmly. 

“Of course. Who do you want to hum, Ran?”

“Makin’ me make all the hard decisions, huh?” Ranmaru’s gives half of a smirk. “‘Fraid I don’t have a preference.”

Tokiya’s hand leaves Ranmaru’s face to squeeze Ren’s leg. “Do you want the honors, baby?”

“Honors.” Ranmaru scoffs. 

“It is an honor.” Ren coos. “I’d love to.”

Tokiya’s hand resettles on Ranmaru’s face as Ren starts humming, a soft, low sound. It’s easy to focus on- it’s nice. Ranmaru focuses on Ren’s voice, the low, smooth lilt. On the warmth, settled between both men and the feeling of their breathing, slow and steady. The feeling of Ren’s arm under his head. 

Ranmaru’s had nightmares before. This wasn’t anything new. But this is the fastest that he’s been able to actually wind down this quickly after one. Usually he’d head into the living room without waking his partners and he’d drink a beer and listen to music with his headphones until he calmed down enough, about two or three hours later and then he’d sleep, Ren and Tokiya none the wiser. 

Sometimes, Ranmaru thinks, different might be better. 

He only just feels Tokiya press a soft kiss to the tip of his nose as he finally succumbs, Ren still humming behind him.


End file.
